Finding Him
by Pixelizedmario
Summary: AU Zach (OC), Ace, Sabo, and Luffy are all brothers. Ace supposedly died 3 years ago, but sends a letter to Zach saying not to come looking, but that he is alright. Well Zach does exactly the opposite. K for now, but will be raised to T later on.


**Prologue**

It had been almost 3 years since his _death_. I say _death_ because he never actually died. About a year and a half ago I received a letter from him. He wrote that he survived the attack, but until now had suffered from some sort of amnesia. I was so angry that I didn't even read the rest of the letter. I tore it up and threw it into the fireplace. After a day of thinking though, I decided to start to look for him. I knew that Sabo and Luffy would be heart broken to hear that our brother was still alive, and that he picked _me_ to send a letter to and not one of them, but I also knew that they would kill me if I didn't do something with the information of his survival. So I did. It took about a year for me to track him down. He had been staying at a abandoned warehouse in the projects of Chicago. How he survived out there I didn't know. I mean, these days places like that were even more dangerously than they used to be. What with all the devil fruit users surfacing. But I did know one thing. I was going to get my brother- no, _our_ brother back at all costs...

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><p><em>Dammit...where is it? I swear the map said it was around here somewhere...Ugh it's so cold...Dammit Ace why did you have to pick Chicago of all places?! Why not somewhere warm like Miami or Mexico City?!..<em>As I continued to wander the neighborhood started looking more and more desolate and rough. Years of gang fights involving power holders made this part of the city even worse, and of course he just had to hide here. As I kept walking a large building that was around 5 stories high started to paint the skyline. When I got closer I realized that it had been completely destroyed. The top two floors were collapsed and the third one looked like it was on the verge of doing so, but I could see a faint light shining through the second floor windows..._What is that? Looks like a fire? wait...fire..Ace...could it be? His fruit hasn't surfaced anywhere and if it had we would be the first to own it, and since he isn't dead..._

"AAAACEE!" Before I knew it I was on the verge of crying, I finally found him. He was finally going to come home and be with us again. Since that day 3 years ago...Nothing had been the same. That damn Sakazuki decided to turn from hero to villain and attack the city. Our building had been hit first and was coming down, but just before we got stuck, Ace blasted a hole through the floor and shoved us in. That is when _he _appeared. As we fell we saw Sakazuki appear behind Ace and grab him by the throat. Before we lost sight, Ace called out and told us not to worry, then he smiled and disappeared. We all thought he was dead. Luffy was devastated and Sabo stopped talking for a whole month. I was the only one trying to help them recover. I never really did get over the trauma from that day, that is, until I found him again.

The sounds of footsteps echoed through the building as someone seemed to be jumping from floor to floor. As a figure walked out, I immediately recognized him and he panicked. He looked almost as if he didn't want to see me, like he was worried I was going to kill him or something. Which I probably would have if the situation were the other way around...Before I could get another word out all I heard were the words 'Hiken' and a lot of fire flew out at me. Luckily I was able to react in time and pull out my weapons to block it.

"Hey asshole, what the hell! You haven't seen me in 3 years and you go ahead and greet me with a fiery blast of heat!? What's up with that?!" I said as I walked over to him. He stood frozen in place, staring into my eyes and slightly shaking. I continued walking, putting away my weapons and reaching out to grab him. When he flinched I stopped. He had never flinched. Ever. This sparked a ton of different thoughts going through my head._ Is he ok? Did something happen? Is he hurt? Is this the real Ace?_ My thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of feet shifting and arms being thrown around me. He was standing right against me hugging me. _Crying_. He started sobbing and slurring words together. It sounded vaguely like an apology, with words like 'Sorry' and 'Thank you' mixed in. I didn't know what he was thanking me for but it didn't matter. I had found him and he was alive. My hopes and happinesswas built up to a peak that they hadn't reached for years.

"This is good. They will be so happy to know you are alive...So happy.." I said as he buried his head into my shoulder. He was so out of character it was kind of unnerving but seeing him alive was all I needed. _I finally have him back. My little brother. All of them are safe now. And now I can protect them all._I still looked back on that day. Knowing that if I had only been stronger, if I had only had my power back then none of this would have happened. Even while holding him, feeling his heart beat, I still had those thoughts. The air was cold and started to nip at me, but as I started to shiver, I felt the most overwhelming warmth fill my body. _Right, so that's how he stayed alive in this weather. He never did get cold..._

"You...You didn't tell them? You didn't tell them I'm alive, right?" He actually sounded afraid..He had always been the strongest out of his younger brothers, never afraid to mess with them, or even lose when they sparred. He even fought on par with me sometimes too, but he hadto be really angry for that...So seeing him afraid of his brothers made me laugh. He knew how much trouble he was going to be in when they saw his face. He actually looked like he was contemplating running from me, but even he wasn't that dumb.

"No, of course I didn't. Imagine if I had though, we would come to get you and they would kill you for real..haha" The look on his face was priceless...at first. Thoughts of the pain and torture he would have to endure as he was bombarded with guilt and screams. His face stopped my laughing and started my odd parental figure tendencies of worry. Being the oldest brother had its perks, but it also left me with all the responsibility.

"Hey, don't worry. They will probably be so stunned that they won't be able to speak, so in that time you can start your explanation. But talk fast, because the minute Luffy realizes this isn't one of his dreams, he'll either hit you or hug you." The part about the dreams seemed to catch his attention the most. He looked like he suddenly found a new reason to hate himself. He seemed to find those a lot when we were younger, and of course it fell on me to reassure him that he had no reason to hate himself.

"Luffy...Luffy has dreams about me?" Hope mixed with fear as he looked up and asked me the question. He knew exactly what kind of dreams Luffy had, and they weren't good ones. Too many times have I had to run into Luffy's room and wake him up. Screaming and kicking seemed to be the nightly sounds for about two and a half years, then he just stopped having them all together. Luffy stopped dreaming completely. Whether it was a coping mechanism ora defense, he had found out a way to stop dreaming.

"Yes, he did but...not anymore...He doesn't do much dreaming.." His face was wiped expressionless and he looked back toward the ground again.

"What about Sabo? How is he?" Ace seemed hopeful that Sabo wasn't as messed up as Luffy, but in a way, Sabo was the most messed up of all.

"He all but stopped talking for about a year and a half and in that time he lost his job, friends, and dropped out of college. From then on he stayed locked away in his room, doing god knows what. At least Luffy expressed his pain. Sabo just sat and didn't even grieve. He just stayed in his room motionless, speechless. When it was time for dinner, he would come out, eat a little, then go back into his room. He still hasn't even recovered fully." Ace looked horrified. Like he was the cause for all of this. Which in a way he was, but none of us were mad at him. We were mad at Sakazuki, who still hasn't been caught.

"Cmon, let's get to the car and get out of here. It's about a 4 hour drive, so it will take a bit to get there." He just stood there motionless. Staring at the ground, eyes wide and scared. This didn't make me angry, though. What made me angry was what he said next...

"I'm not coming..." He said. I had never felt worse in my life. It felt like I lost him all over again.

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><p><strong>Hey! so i'm back with another story, but don't worry if you read my other one i'm not dropping it, just taking a break. This idea came to me in a dream and i have been dying to write it down and watch it come to life. I'm not sure how far i want to go, but i definitely wont leave it at this. Also if you are a bit confused then Here is some info. AU, OC and devil fruit powers in the AU. anyway thanks for reading and reviews are always welcome thanks!<strong>


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